An England footballing legend created a stir when he appeared at a talk on Camberwell writer Matt Tiller’s biography of Jack Leslie, The Lion Who Never Roared, the first black footballer to be selected for England in 1925 but who never got to put that three lions shirt on because of his colour, writes Michael Holland.
We heard tales of Jack breaking goalscoring records at several clubs, becoming the first black footballer to captain a professional team (Plymouth Argyle), beating Uruguay and Argentina’s national teams in a Plymouth Argyle tour of South America, and how he ended his working life at West Ham cleaning the boots of the wondrous trio of Hurst, Moore and Peters after they had helped England win the World Cup.
Questions from the audience gleaned further information about the FA finally giving Jack Leslie’s family an honorary England Cap, which now sits proudly in the Plymouth Argyle Museum. We also heard about the racism Jack and his family had to endure, besides the ignominious decision by England’s ruling body, the FA.
The author spoke about how he felt Jack Leslie’s story needed to be told in a book but also commemorated with a statue, so with another Plymouth Argyle fan, Greg Foxsmith, Matt Tiller set up a campaign to raise the funds. The statue was unveiled in 2022 outside the ground where Jack Leslie won so many games with his goals.
Also in attendance was Ben Odeje, a New Cross boy who, 45 years after the Jack Leslie shame, actually became the first black player to play for England. As a respectful hush fell over the St Giles Church crypt, Ben told of how he felt when he first got the call saying he was in the team: ‘It was the best feeling in my life,’ he remembered. ‘All young players dream of that happening but when it does it is indescribable; I’ll never forget it.’
After the talk, Ben was surrounded by Charlton fans who remember when he played for them, all asking for selfies while they fired questions at him.
Like Leslie, Ben Odeje suffered at the hands of racists during matches but he still blazed his trail through football and opened doors to all those that came after. And even today, with some fans booing players taking the knee, or abusing the black England players for penalty misses in a game they had given their hearts in, it highlights the fact that racism is still a terrible part of the game, and that racists still walk among us.
Matt Tiller was overjoyed at having Ben coming to his talk and signed a book for him. He ended with these words: ‘This has been an honour and a privilege to research and write. Jack’s granddaughters have given me access to their archive and to their memories and precious family stories. Their honesty and integrity with their grandfather’s legacy has ensured this is an honest portrait of this remarkable footballer and man. I shared the book with them to make sure I had got all the facts straight, but I was also nervous of what they would think. When they told me they loved it I was relieved and delighted.’
The talk was arranged by the incredible SE5 Forum, who have a different talk on a different subject every month.
The Lion Who Never Roared is out in hardback through Pitch Publishing: https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/lion-who-never-roared
